Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab): With power crisis worsening in Punjab, farmers in the region have turned to innovations such as using tractor batteries and generators to run tube wells for irrigation.
Saying that paddy required plenty of water for cultivation, the farmers claimed the power cuts crippled water supply. On Friday, the PSPCL had decided to reduce power supply to farmers by two hours in order to facilitate better supply to residential areas.
Frustrated with the failure of the government to mitigate the crisis, Bhupinder Singh, a sugarcane farmer in Kheri Naudh village said he ploughed his crop because it was drying up.
Saying that power shortage dashed his hopes of a bountiful production this year, Malkeet Singh Kotala, a farmer from Kotla village here, claimed he decided to plough his rice fields which required a good supply of water.
Voicing similar sentiments, farmers from the district said cracks had started appearing on their lands and paddy saplings had begun withering.
As per data from the state agriculture department, the district has received only 13.25 mm rain this year till July 10. while 53.5 mm rain was recorded last year for the same period. A total of 225 mm rain was recorded during the last monsoon.
Farmers from Bassi Pathana, Sirhind and Khera regions said that only six hours of supply was provided to them instead of the eight hours promised by the state government.